Joe Ragazzo

Articles by
Joe

Bruce Bartlett has spent many years in government, including service on the staffs of Representatives Ron Paul and Jack Kemp and Senator Roger Jepsen. He has been executive director of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress, senior policy analyst in the Reagan White House, and deputy assistant secretary for economic policy at the Treasury Department during the George H.W. Bush administration. A New York Times best-selling author, he’s published more than 2,100 articles in major national publications.

Dr. Bandy Lee is a violence studies specialist. Trained as a psychiatrist at Yale and Harvard Universities, she focused on public-sector work as chief resident and on anthropological research in East Africa as a fellow of the National Institute of Mental Health. Bandy recently published “The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump,” a book that offers insight into President Donald Trump’s mental state from herself and over two dozen other mental health experts. Based on their evaluations, their consensus is that Trump presents a clear and present danger to the country. You can read a Mother Jones interview with one of the book’s co-authors here.

Professor Jay Rosen has been on the NYU Journalism faculty since 1986, and from 1999 to 2005 he served as chair of the department. He is also the author of PressThink, a weblog about journalism and its ordeals. As a press critic and reviewer, Jay has published in The Nation, Columbia Journalism Review, the Chronicle of Higher Education, The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Newsday and others. He has a Ph.D. from NYU in media studies.

Will Fischer is a nationally recognized progressive leader. A decorated Marine Corps veteran of the war in Iraq, he is the director of government affairs for VoteVets, which, with more than 500,000 members, is the largest progressive veterans organization in America (and was also blocked on Twitter by President Donald Trump in June). Prior to his work at VoteVets, Will spent nearly a decade working at the national AFL-CIO and in a variety of political, legislative, and organizing campaigns across the country.

Will will be in the Hive to discuss veterans, military, and foreign policy. Post your questions and join us on Thursday! If you’d like to participate but don’t have TPM Prime, sign up here.

Gerald Kominski is a Professor of Health Policy and Management and Director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research. His research focuses on evaluating the costs and financing of public insurance programs, including Medicare, Medicaid, Workers’ Compensation. Gerald received his Ph.D. in public policy analysis from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School in 1985, and his A.B. from the University of Chicago in 1978.

Gerald will be hosting a Q&A in the Hive to discuss health care, CBO scores, single-payer, and more! Post your questions and join us on Thursday. If you’d like to participate but don’t have TPM Prime, sign up here.

Laura Cutilletta joined the Law Center in May 2003. She is a prominent expert on gun laws and policy nationwide, and, in 2009, established programs to track, analyze, and report on firearms legislation and trends in all 50 states. Laura has worked for more than a decade with activists across the country and legislators at all levels of government, providing legal expertise and advice on legislative solutions to gun violence.

Jelani Cobb has been a staff writer at The New Yorker since 2015. He writes frequently about race, politics, history, and culture. His most recent book is “The Substance of Hope: Barack Obama and the Paradox of Progress.” He’s a professor of journalism at Columbia University. He won the 2015 Sidney Hillman Prize for Opinion and Analysis Journalism, for his columns on race, the police, and injustice.

Philip E. Wolgin is the managing director of Immigration Policy at American Progress. He directs American Progress’ research and publications on immigration and has helped lead the team’s work on a diverse set of issues, such as immigration reform, child refugees at the United States’ southern border, border security, executive action, rebuttals to nativist claims about immigrants, and E-Verify. Philip will be in The Hive to discuss immigration, DACA, and Trump’s new regulations after his travel ban. Post your questions and join us on Wednesday! If you’d like to participate but don’t have TPM Prime, sign up here.

Scott Weaver leads the climate science team at the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). The team conducts, assesses, and communicates climate science research to support the scientific foundation for cross-programmatic activities and policy development. Scott will be joining us in The Hive to discuss the scientific aspects of the climate change debate and the importance of federal budgets for science research. Post your questions and come join the chat on Friday! If you’d like to participate but don’t have TPM Prime, sign up here.

Michael McFaul is Director and Senior Fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, Professor of Political Science at Stanford, and the Peter and Helen Bing Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. Additionally, Michael served for five years in the Obama administration, first as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Russian and Eurasian Affairs at the National Security Council at the White House, and then as U.S. Ambassador to the Russian Federation. His current research interests include American foreign policy, great power relations, and the relationship between democracy and development.